POST, Frans
(b. 1612, Haarlem, d. 1680, Haarlem)

A Brazilian Landscape

1670-75
Oil on oak panel, 22 x 27 cm
Private collection

Landscape depictions like the one illustrated here are generally categorized as "exotic landscapes." The concept of the exotic appears to have first cropped up in connection with natural products imported from overseas. From the sixteenth century onwards, exotic goods and products increasingly appeared as requisites in literature, visual art, and theater.

The painting depicts a Brazilian landscape, with natives and slaves near a plantation house in a village.